


Freedom

by cmk418



Category: The Departed (2006)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-03-25
Updated: 2007-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:55:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27909340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cmk418/pseuds/cmk418
Summary: Colin can be anything, what he wants is to be free.
Kudos: 1





	Freedom

Ever since they’d buried Frank, Colin would hear the old man’s voice in his mind. It could have been the sheer amount of Frank’s philosophizing that was hammered into his head through the lessons of his youth. The words would come at unexpected times.

Making love to Madolyn: _No woman can ever be trusted. You can stick your dick into them hourly, but it’s them fucking you every time._

Listening to the cd that rat fuck Costigan had sent: _Knowledge is power. The guy that knows everything can take the power from you sure as I’m standing here._

Poring over research at his desk: _You can be anything._

That one always made him laugh. Frank said it so often it could be the old man’s credo. _You can be anything, Colin_. Or _You can be anything, my boy._ Cop or criminal or both. “Neither” never weighed into the equation. He could be anything that Frank wanted him to be. Show his loyalty the only way he could. He “could” be anything, but Colin was what Frank made him.

He thought the voice would stop after all the loose ends had been tied up. After Billy-the-rat’s funeral, he thought that he’d be free of Frank’s bullshit, but instead Frank’s voice had become a running commentary on how to move, how to think, how to react. It had gotten to the point where Colin couldn’t live without it.

Like now, standing at the door to his apartment, arm full of groceries, key slipped into the look. _Take just a moment to listen, don’t be obvious, you’ll know if there’s anything out of the ordinary._ Colin touched the door with his forehead. To an outside observer, it would seem as though he may have been overcome with emotion, but it was the way he was taught to check his surroundings. Confident there was nothing, he opened the door and stepped across the threshold.

He spotted the paper-covered shoes and looked up. The moment Dignam had leveled the gun on him, the voice in his head whispered, _you can be anything_. There was only one thing Colin wanted to be, so he uttered the one word that would set him free of all of his personal demons.

“Okay.”  



End file.
